Age at interview: 8 Sex: Male Background:
Brandon is 8 years old and has spina bifida which was diagnosed in pregnancy by ultrasound scanning. He uses a wheelchair and has a shunt to treat hydrocephalus. He attends mainstream school, lives at home wiht his Mum, Dad older sister and cousin and enjoys quad-biking, cricket and football.
The following is a transcript of the entire interview with Brandon's mother.
How old is Brandon and who else is in your family?
Brandon's 8 ½, his sister Ashleigh 14, my nephew who's 11 and there's me, his mum and his dad, Brian.
And can you describe Brandon's disabilities?
Brandon has spina bifida and hydrocephalus. He's paralysed from the waist down. He's a wheelchair user.
And when did you discover that Brandon was going to have spina bifida?
I was 19 weeks pregnant and I found out through a routine scan.
And how could they tell?
It was the shape of his head. They said there was something just not right about the shape of his head and then further investigation proved spina bifida.
And what was your reaction?
Well we didn't really understand what spina bifida was at first. We'd heard the name and we knew it was some kind of disability but we didn't really realise what it was.
So how did you find out about it?
The doctor. Loads of pamphlets and leaflets and... not that much information really but sitting on our own we had a look through different books and resources and found out, but there's a few different types so it wasn't until Brandon was born that we found out how severe it was.
So did you consider not going through with the pregnancy?
No, definitely not.
So you didn't have to make a decision?
We were asked. We were asked if we wanted a termination, but I declined because I don't, you know, I just decided to go through with the pregnancy, because he was my baby.
